Negative resistance - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Negative resistance or negative differential resistance is a property of electrical circuit elements composed of certain materials in which, over certain voltage ranges, current is a decreasing function of voltage. This range of voltages is known as a negative resistance region. Some writers prefer to reserve the term negative resistance for situations in which the negatively-sloping portion of the load line passes through the origin, so that a positive absolute value of voltage is associated with a negative absolute value of current. Such a circuit must contain an energy source, and can be used as a form of amplifier. However, the use of the term negative resistance to encompass negative differential resistance is more common.